Merry Christmas!!

Finally I have some more pictures to post for y'all!! We had an educational trip up North this year. We discovered how much longer it takes to travel while stopping to feed and change a baby. :) It took forever to get up there and so y'all don't think I'm blaming it totally on Titus, we did end up in a blizzard from about Chicago to Alex's parents house. That didn't help much either! In Kankakee, IL everything was TOTALLY iced over, it looked so cool and beautiful! Oh yes, this is also the place where we pulled around back of this truck stop and I fed Titus. A motor home also pulled around right after us and they got all parked, and then the coolest thing happened! They had an automatic step for their door. I was sitting there watching them out of boredom when suddenly, boink! Out slides these steps. That was very impressive to me. Anyways, then this guy comes out with 2 dogs. They go trotting over to a grassy area and take care of business and run around a little while. Then they go back in. So I stared at the steps waiting for them to suck back in again. Nothing happened. I was really hoping they WOULD suck them back in before they went to sleep because I had to see it again. Besides, it seems like it would be harder for someone to break in there without steps :D. Haha. Anyways, a few minutes later he comes out with 2 dogs again. I wasn't paying attention other than one was black and one was blond, same as the first set of two. So they trotted around out there awhile, then went back in. So I hopefully started watching those steps again. Nope!!! He comes out again with 2 MORE dogs, this time obviously a different set!! So then I quit watching the steps and started counting dogs :). Haha. That time after he went back in, the steps got sucked back in and I saw it with my own eyeballs!!! That's so cool!!! When we're rich and famous and get a motorhome and 6 dogs, I'm going to make SURE it has automatic steps. Oh yes. Anyways, here's the picture of the iced bush!! :) It may even be one that the dogs used!! :)So when we finally arrived at Alex's parents house around... 3am Sunday, I think (:P) Titus was very happy to meet his grandparents :).Uncle Eric put Titus to sleep at the Hansen gathering!! Er... this picture was taken before he fell asleep :).Christmas Eve was busy- first we went to visit Alex's friends and hung around playing games and stuff for awhile. Then we went to Mom's house for the Hansen gathering. Then we went to Lawrie's house for the Burrell gathering! It was very fun :). Becky got very excited about... a mattress pad, I think? :) Alex goofed around with the bows...And Titus fell asleep on Brandy in spite of all the noise!! :)Friday we had the Harry gathering!! We were missing quite a few people, so it wasn't as out-of-control noisy as it usually is :(. Jim & Lid and Mark & Steve couldn't make it to MI, and Sara got sick :(. It was still pretty fun though. I can't believe how big the nephews and nieces are all getting!! Oh yeah, and I can't wait to meet Matthew and Sara's baby!! I think they're going to have a boy this time :).



Matthew & AlexisAndrea and Kayla opening their gift from Grandma!Rachel thinks Becky has stinky feet... Haha, not really!!!James got a fancy wooden bowl full of goodies from Mom.Rachel got some snifty socks and some really cool-looking cookbooks!Kristina has the biggest eyes!!! And when her little ponytail thing sticks straight up Alex says it looks like an exclamation point :).Alexis is so big and she has the most hair I've ever seen on a kid that age, I think!!Ahhhh, and here is a BEAUTIFUL picture of snow. Isn't it lovely? NO, I'm not asking any of you Michiganders!!! :P Y'all don't appreciate a good thing when you have it!! :) I was a little upset about it too though, when it canceled the Christmas play!! Fortunately they switched it to Monday night and I still got to see it. Everyone did a simply MARVELOUS job!!!! I had such a good time seeing everyone from church! :)
Okey dokey, that's all for today folks!! Sorry about all my rambling :). And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, no pictures!

I've been bad about taking pictures this week because I've been getting everything ready for our trip to MI!! So we're leaving this afternoon and we will be in MI Saturday through the following Saturday. Isn't that exciterating?!? :) I just thought I'd let y'all know, and we should have bazillions of pics after we get back!!! ;) Hopefully. Anyways, if there's anybody that wants to see us while we're up there that we don't already have plans with... TOO BAD!!! Hahaha, just kidding. We will be at the Christmas play at Hamilton Baptist Church Sunday evening (the 21st) and from everything I've heard it should be a teriffic one!! They have one awesome director! :D And boy, you should hear the piano accompianist for the choir music! She is incredible!!! So anyways, y'all should all come to that even if you don't want to see us. And if you can't make it there and still want to see us, give us a buzz!

And now I must go and take care of my little grumplesnout :). Poor kiddo, he was sleeping in the bedroom and I am out in the living room. I just thought, "hey, this Christmas music is playing loud enough I bet I couldn't hear him if he was in there screaming." So I turned it down and... sure enough, he WAS crying!! Anyways, I will see y'all soon!!!!

Haha...

Louisiana Weather Report

So this morning I got up to change Titus (can you believe he slept all night again?!? I'm noticing a pattern now... whenever he sleeps in bed with us he sleeps all night. Hmmm) and as I walked past the doorway to the rest of the house I glanced up and noticed something different out the kitchen window. I hurried into the living room to confirm my suspicions and sure enough... so I went racing back into the bedroom hollering for Alex. The poor guy jumped out of bed before he was all the way awake (probably thinking the house was on fire or something!) just to hear me excitedly announce, "THERE"S SNOW OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" And I really hollered all those exclamation points too. :D Anyways, so my heroic husband went outside and took pictures for y'all. Aren't you so glad?!? And he even thought to turn on the Christmas lights too, so it would look more Christmasy!!

This is how much we got before it started raining :P. I think there was about 2 inches in our front yard!!
AND... Alex left for work but then came home about a half-hour later because he gets a snow day!! Louisianians are kind of funny :). In a good way!!!!!!! So we're off to enjoy the day... grocery shopping and suchlike :). Adioodles!!

WOOHOO... PICTURES!!!

Anna having a stare-down with the turkey...

Last but not least... he is awake and smiling even if it doesn't quite look like it!!! ;)

Merry Christmas!!

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving! Mom, Anna and Rachel drove down to visit their favorite youngest visible (haha, gotta be specific here!!) grandson/nephew. So we cooked a turkey and all the stuff that goes along with it. And we had pumpkin custard this year!! That's pie without a crust. Anyways, that is important because last year we didn't have pumpkin pie at all!! So I stood firm on the pie issue, even though Alex isn't crazy about it :). Don't worry, I made him an Apple Dapple Cake instead.

Anyways, the reason for the long delay in posting more pictures is because during that week that Mom and the girls were here, all the pictures were taken with Becky's camera (borrowed for the week). And we forgot to load them all on our computer before they left so....... Anna promised to email them to me. Now I forget how many pics were taken, but it was quite a few!! And Anna can only email about 5 at a time. Not the most efficient way to get pictures from here to there, right? So now we're mixed up in a big jumble of computer confusion that I won't try to explain to y'all because I don't even know HOW to explain it. Suffice it to say that the pictures SHOULD be available to me, but aren't. So, I can only post the ones that Anna emailed to me in her first attempts:

We dressed up a little Christmasy and had pictures taken for our Christmas cards this year... if I ever get them made and sent out...

This one has a shadow behind Alex's head, so we probably won't use it :). Here we all look a little sleepy.

Titus was telling us to smile. Haha.

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy these three and I'll try to start taking more here and not have to blame Anna next time for not posting. :D Oh yeah. And Titus has been smiling at us lately, but when we get the camera he quits. So no smiling pics yet, but hopefully soon!!